Massive Wagons

WHEELS KEEP TURNING

Following the success of their last two chart-topping releases, UK rockers Massive Wagons are back to the stack with a new album that will knock your socks off. The Wagons’ new album is titled Triggered! The band’s frontman Baz Mills tells us all about it.

With the advent of social media, you can’t look one way or another without someone trying to voice their opinion on any given topic. These situations quite frequently cause people to react in not always the best way. “I get triggered by things, but sometimes it goes a bit far. We’re all on social media now more than ever. People seem to spend our lives on there,” said frontman Baz Mills. “Everything has to be sort of ripped apart and abused online.” He adds: “It’s just this faceless abuse that people seem to band around. There’s nothing wrong with having different opinions and having debates and conversations about things, but things seem to get heated and personal very quickly.”

Massive Wagons’ anthemic first single from the album F*ck The Haters addresses the subject of bullying. The band recently visited a local school to talk about this burning issue. “We’ve got a friend at that school, and they said would you like to come in? They saw the campaign and thought it was great,” said Mills. “I’d like to think the school plays a big part in highlighting bullying. I know because of this visit me and Adam are doing, I went online to try and find some sort of resources. There’s a lot of school resources, downloadable stuff, so it must be there for a reason, and they must use it.”

Massive Wagons have a tendancy to inject a sense of fun or humour into their music. A perfect example would be The Curry Song on the band’s last album. However, with subjects such as bullying, the band are grappling with more serious topics this time around. “I’m not a big fan of corny songs or corny lyrics or generic lyrics,” explains Baz. “I want to write things that are honest, and I know what I’m talking about through first-hand experience. I think more people connect with that than you think. They listen to and go - you know what - that’s right. I went through Although the serious context of some of these messages, the band don’t want to get too heavy on the messaging. “I put the funny songs on the album sometimes because I don’t want to bog people down with all that serious business,” explains Mills. “l like writing songs with serious messages in a fun way. Billy Balloon Head is a prime example of that. It has a serious message, and it’s a hilarious song. When you dig into words a bit, it’s a bit more serious than you think. I don’t want to stand on a bar stool and preach to people. But I want to raise some points.”

There is one thing that Massive Wagons aren’t short of, and that is passion. And that certainly comes across throughout their new album, Triggered! “I think it’s got to be honest, and it’s got to be passionate,” said Mills. “I think rock fans are music fans, and they can see through a lot of fakeries. I know that if I’m going out there talking and singing about what I feel and what I believe in, then I know it’s going to come across well.”

The band’s latest single Please Stay Calm, has been described as Yacht Rock – a niche genre, perhaps you will agree. “It’s probably collectively our favourite song on the album between all of us. The song is about putting a mask on behaviour. Or being in a band and being expected to act a certain way. Or be somebody else or be who everybody else wants you to be. You can’t sometimes be yourself - you’ve got to put on this sort of persona a little bit. It’s poking fun at myself a bit.”

Speaking of Yacht Rock, the video for the single was recorded on a luxury boat on the south coast. “It was recorded off the coast of the Isle of Wight – we left Southampton. Obviously we weren’t driving it. There were two guys with us - they took us off there. I’ve never been before. Those rocks off the Isle of Wight are called The Needles, and I’d never heard of it before. The guy filming it with us had a drone - and it just looked amazing. We got Stephen on the front of the boat, and he was absolutely crapping his pants doing that - but it looks amazing. It was good fun,” said Baz. “It’s kind of that AOR or 80s AOR. I suppose you can imagine sitting on a boat listening to it. That’s where it comes from.”

Massive Wagons will shortly take to the road on a co-headline tour alongside 90s rockers Ugly Kid Joe. The band recently crossed paths on tour with Thunder. “They’re a great bunch of guys. We met them that night with Thunder and they were really cool guys. So, I think it’s going to be great. It’s a co-headline thing. So, we’re both doing an hour and a bit each,” confirms Mills. “I think the music styles are similar enough, but different enough to be interesting and good. They’ve been around a long time. I remember when I was a kid seeing that T-shirt and nearly buying it but didn’t buy it in case my mum gave me a b*llocking. You know, the kid with their middle finger? I wanted that T-shirt. And then all I could see was my mum saying, you will not be wearing that. But I’m really looking forward to it - it’s going to be great,” concludes Baz.

Triggered! The new album from Massive Wagons will be released via Earache Records on October 28th. The band will be touring alongside Ugly Kid Joe throughout early November. For ticket information and further details, please visit http://www.massivewagons. com.